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Baking Project #8: Chocolate Crinkles

When I was still in college and living with my relatives, I used to see a plate of crinkles on the table almost weekly. My aunt was moonlighting with her baked goods so it's common to see brownies and tarts in the house. When I left and lived on my own, that hobby was passed on (or acquired?) to my uncle who had to retire early as per his doctor's advise. But if there's one person who was greatly influenced by seeing my aunt baked, it was her daughter, my cousin Jana whom by the way is my favorite.

Anyway, despite seeing those crinkles I never got one and took a bite. Five years in college followed by more years of working and never once did I buy myself a piece. Don't get me wrong, despite it's simplicity I was really enticed by the black and white combination. I just know deep down that it's delicious. However I can't figure out why I haven't tasted it before.

But thanks to Pinterest(!) I saw a lot of photos and recipes (!!!) of crinkles. I tried one and loved it so much I'm not trying anything else (am I missing out a lot???). As of today, I already baked them twice. But yesterday when I went to Shopwise, I saw a load of crinkles being sold and I realized that mine are small in sizes. Tee hee! Well, lesson learned.

And oh by the way, they'll be making their way to Julian's first brithday! I'm already preparing for it.

If you're interested, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup cocoa powder (I used dutch processed)

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs (room temperature)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp espresso powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup confectioner's sugar

Directions:

1. In a bowl, using a wooden spoon, beat together the cocoa powder, sugar and oil until they combine and becomes shiny and gritty.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat well.

3.In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and espresso powder. Mix into the chocolate mixture until just combined. Cover the dough and place it in a freezer for two hours.

4. Preheat oven to 350 deg F and line two baking sheets with parchment papers. Place the confectioner's sugar in a bowl. Using a spoon, get a clump of the chilled dough and roll in into a 1-inch sized ball using your hands. Roll the ball in the confectioner's sugar and place in the baking sheet. Do the same until you fill the whole sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool for a minute in the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: I recommend that you cover your hands with confectioner's sugar before rolling the dough or some of it will stick in!